Hunted

Chapter 30

Warning: chapter contains some violent and sexual content ;P

Chapter 30-Azula's POV

I shouldn’t have used the spell. Dad had warned me that it was only to be used in emergencies as an absolute last resort. But I’d got caught up in the moment. I’d wanted to impress Amias. I wanted to show him that I wasn’t as weak as he thought I was.

                After Dobry interrupted me, I felt a stirring in my stomach which quickly escalated. Soon, my head was pounding, my stomach turning, my limbs aching. It was all I could do not to moan in agony.

                My befuddled mind managed to register Dobry leaving; I shared a look with Amias before he turned back to Rickon.

                It was then that I felt it rising. I was helpless to stop it. This seething ball of darkness, of utter hatred and maliciousness, which was so wholly consuming that I nearly cried out at the shock of it.

                I never stood a chance.

                It was so powerful, so intent on taking me over. And it all happened to fast. Before I knew it, I was a prisoner inside my own head. My consciousness had been pushed to the back, to a dark, inescapable space inside my head and chained while this...this entity, this monster, had taken my place – had taken control.

                I was now a puppet and my strings were being pulled.

                “Wrong answer,” I heard myself growl. I hadn’t even known I could sound so vicious.

                Now I finally knew how Mahina felt, although I allowed her more freedom than this. Always looking in, able to see what was happening, what was being said, but not having the power to change anything. It was maddening! I don’t know how she put up with me all these years...

                “With great difficultly,” she groaned. I gasped, dragging my eyes away from the happenings of my body to look around my prison. There, chained alongside me, was Mahina. Her white coat was coated with dirt, her healing wounds barely visible from where the beast had attacked. Her ice blue eyes were half-lidded with fatigue. She rested her head on her paws, peering at me with an unreadable expression.

                “You had to use dark magick didn’t you?” she growled. “How can you not know how dangerous that is?”

                “Dad never told me it was dark magick!” I argued, defensive.

                She snorted bitterly. “Well it was hardly going to be a light magick, was it?” She raised her head, looking through our eyes to the outside world. “This is what happens when you mess with the dark, child.”

                I turned to look as well and jerked in my chains. They rattled but I barely heard the noise. My entire being was focused on the sight before me.

                My claws dug into Rickon’s eye, digging like it was soil until I eventually clawed it free. I clenched my hands in their chains, able to distantly feel the warmth of the blood coating my physical hands. The only sound I heard was the frantic pounding of my heart. Bile rose in my throat, but I swallowed it.

                “What’s happening?” I whispered, shoving my fist in my mouth. I turned to Mahina, unable to face the sickening scene any longer.

                “The darkness is addicting, child. Once you get a taste, you’re unable to stop yourself from going back for seconds. It takes a strong werewolf to have the discipline to stay away.”